Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Every year on the Friday before Mother’s Day, we as a country celebrate Military Spouses nationwide.  Military Spouse Appreciation Day is a day to recognize the strength, sacrifices and commitment of military spouses in the United States of America. 

President Ronald Reagan recognized the profound importance of spouse commitment to the readiness and well-being of military members and declared May 23, 1984 the first Military Spouse Day with Proclamation 5184, dated April 17, 1984.  The US Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger standardized the date by declaring the Friday preceding Mother’s Day as Military Spouse Day.

Each year, the US President normally commemorates this day with a ceremonial speech and proclamation.  Military Spouse Appreciation Day also falls within the same month as Military Appreciation Month.  A month long celebration of military service.  It is not by coincidence that Military Spouse Appreciation Day falls within this month as Military Spouses are often considered the backbone of military families which enable service members to focus on their mission at hand. 

To all Military Spouses both men and women, today, we honor you.  

We honor the sacrifices you make every day when you signed up to be a part of this military life.  It is not always an easy road but it is an honorable road.  

The strength, resilience, and courage you have is like no other.  

It is important to remember that Military Spouses serve too.  

I never really thought of it that way until my husband’s commander said “It is because of YOU (military spouses) taking care of the Homefront that your husband can deploy and do the mission he was meant to do.”  There is always a woman behind the man.  (Or, man behind the woman). The force behind the force.

That really resonated with me.  I always thought I was just doing what needed to be done.  After hearing my husband’s commander put it this way, I realized that it is much more than me doing what needs to be done.  It is a team effort, this military life.  It is one that I am proud to be a part of.  

Even though it is important to honor our military spouses every day….. I am so happy that we have a recognized day to pay special attention to our military spouses.  Today, be sure to give your military spouse a HUG and tell them that you are PROUD of all that they do.  

It is not always an easy road but we are stronger because it is a road we travel together.